The Fault in Our Stars is such a great movie because its source is such a great book. We are drawn in by the story, the clever dialog and the comical tragedy of their compacted lives lived out in the context of young adults with cancer. Talk about YOLO. We stay connected due to the relationships, mainly of Augustus Waters to Hazel Grace but also of their relationship with Issac, their own parents (especially Hazel to her Mom). This movie nicely fleshes out the book; it is true to its source. Indeed, much of what I say about the movie could be said about the book and visa versa. So I will focus on the aspects more specifically tied to the movie here while confessing to some overlap; for a fuller review of the book, see The Fault in Our Stars Reviewed: An Authentic, Comedic Tragedy of Life and Loss.

Some movie commentators were surprised that this movie has done so well. They went so far as to diss others, like Edge of Tomorrow that were higher budget but were getting pummeled at the box office. It simply shows that good writing and acting beat action and sound effects. But they have to be really good or we’ll wait for it to come out on Redbox, Netflix or disc since the big screen is less critical. (By the way, I quite liked Edge of Tomorrow and thought, in its way, it was fairly clever as well. Obviously, it’s a very different movie. Let me put it this way, it’s good enough that I’m reading the book that inspired the movie, Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s All You Need is Kill.) The Fault in Our Stars is so good that many of us wanted to see in the theater. If you loved the book, you’ll love the movie. If you haven’t read the book, perhaps the movie will entice you.

The draw for us is the humor co-mingled with tragedy. If it were simply tragic, this would be a bummer of a depressing film. If it were merely humorous, it would be an insensitive and inauthentic look a teens with cancer. It is this finding of true love amongst clever teens who “allow the pain to be felt” that catches our breadth, our emotions and our hearts. As always, the book does a better job with this because you have a larger canvas on which to play out the story, but it is fleshed out well in the film.

I want to make a particular note on the humor. Some, including World Magazine, hit on the references to the “literal heart of Jesus” and other references to suggest the film uses “the name of Jesus [as] nothing more than a running gag—it’s simply unconscionable” I think, as I indicated in my book review, rather, the movie takes to task a view of Christianity that is devoid of substance; it uses platitudes and pop-psychology to feel good about yourself struggling with cancer. The movie (and book) lampoons this version of non-Christianity. Kids with cancer, as well as all of us, don’t need jingos to make it through “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” (some more outrageous than others). We need a savior who has felt pain and loss. We need a savior who cried at Lazarus’ tomb and wept in the garden. We need the Jesus who died and rose again so that we have hope that our existence isn’t merely slogging through this world but allows us to look ahead to a better country, a heavenly one. Not that we’re left without hope and encouragement now, but it does not deny “that pain must be felt.” I say skewer away; the less people confuse the version of Christianity with the authentic person and work of Christ, the better.

Does this mean my theology lines up with John Green’s? Not so much. Do I think it was OK [i.e., morally permissible if they were real people] for Hazel & Augustus to have sex outside of marriage? No. (I doubt Hazel’s parents would have objected to her marrying Augustus; Augustus was old to not need permission. They could have just a family wedding in their house in an afternoon. Then, go for it.) It does mean that we misdirect our aim by critiquing what is not authentic Christianity.

If I haven’t been clear so far, let me be so now – I wholeheartedly encourage you to see the movie and read the book; you might want to have a few tissues by your side both for tears of laughter and of pain. Also, the sountrack is fabulous, but that’s another post.

I loved the web series The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, but, as any who happen to follow this blog know, I was looking forward to this book with both anticipation and trepidation. Can they do something new with a novelization of a modern webshow based on a classic novel? It turns out they, in the form of Bernie Su and Kate Rorick, can do something new and, in different ways, do so as spectacularly well as the web series itself. Simply putting the web series into novel form would have been as titillating as Darcy’s small talk at a party. Not much. How did they overcome the challenges. Well, let’s reflect on why so many of us loved the web series in the first place: execution. As brilliant as the premise was, the show’s execution in direction, writing, and a brilliant cast (all were great but especially loved Ashley Clements in the title role) made the premise come alive and engaged us with the lives of the characters. [Full disclousure: I received an advanced reviewers copy of the novel for an honest review.]

They are some of the reasons I loved Lizzie Bennet Diaries: Julia Cho as Charlotte, Ashley Clements as Lizzie, Mary Kate Wiles as Lydia & Laura Spencer as Jane

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries holds a special place in Austen ‘verse since they both convey the heart of the story and make it current and fresh. It was also done well. For a deeper dive into the series, see my review of The Brilliant Lizzie Bennet Diaries – You Did Austen Proud. So, for the novel to succeed, it can’t just rehash the show since those factors (and those actors) aren’t available to make it come alive. Nicely enough, it doesn’t. It’s Lizzie’s secret diary, going deeper into her thoughts and conversations, between the episodes. And I fell in love with the characters all over again.

What!?!

While it’s theoretically possible to love the book without watching the series, you really would miss a lot. This in depth dive between webisodes references those videos, so, while you could follow it, it would be barren without the full context. Do I agree with every single choice point? No. However, the novel draws us back into the world in a different and richer way; it allows us to peer further into Lizzie’s head and see more of the background action. Here’s the funny thing – I obviously know where the story is going to go and what happens to the characters and I still couldn’t put the book down. Not just because it pulled me in again, but because I was more intrigued to see how and, sometimes, why, it played out as it did and Lizzie’s thoughts about it as what would happen. Even while knowing the whole story and the characters, I was never bored. In some ways, this even provides some insights into the characters of the original Pride and Prejudice. Once again, you did Austen proud with The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet

**** SPOILER ALERT – Potential spoilers below *****

One thing that’s clear in the milieu of the characters is that we’re in a post-marriage world. It’s not that the characters aren’t part of a family with a married Mom and Dad, but that living together (or at least sleeping together) outside of marriage is just the natural thing that everyone does. Kind of like breathing. It seems that there will come a time when there will be nothing left for Wickham to do that will shock and provide potential shame. Recordings of sex do it for now, but, given the course of events that won’t be enough to get a rise out the family or the need for Darcy to come to the rescue. We are adrift, our moorings of a Christian basis for marriage have snapped. I’m afraid that we will come to a time when we won’t be able to tell this story. There will be nothing left that’s seen as inappropriate. Of course, this is not just a literary loss but a loss to the fabric of our world as well. A recognition of the perils of pride and prejudice, a sacrificial move to save a reputation, a reason for a reputation at all (no such thing as bad publicity) and a deep concern for truth all have a Biblical basis. (No, I’m not saying that only Christians exhibit humility, truth telling or sacrifice, I am saying that the foundation for those being important have Judeo-Christian underpinnings and find their fullest reflection in the person of Jesus Christ.) Time will tell, but I fear for the day that Austen will be read, if at all, for historical interest and not be seen as relevant to our lives, a day when the events leave many saying: “what’s the fuss?” Here’s hoping I’m wrong

I’m excited to share a little teaser into my interviewwith Gabielle de Cuir and Stefan Rudnicki. Tomorrow, Ms. du Cuir’s reading of Too Far by Fredric Brown will be up on the post: Spoken Freely 2014 – Summer Shorts. Mr. Rudnicki’s reading of Fredric Brown’s Man of Distinction will be available Saturday. So come by each day for the updated post. Their graciousness extended not only to being patient and wonderful guests on my blog but also creating this little trailer:

The entire collection Summer Shorts ’14 is available at Tantor Media. Fredric Brown’s short story collection, Honeymoon in Hell, from which these two selections are taken is available at Audible, Blackstone and Barnes & Noble and other stores.

Well, it’s a bit over a year and half into my Nokia Lumia 920 and Windows Phone 8 life. (I came from Android, go here for more on my transition). Normally, at this point in the life of my contract is where I get a bit itchy for the next phone. I start looking down the horizon of what’s coming. Part of this my geeky self looking for the next cool toy but, at least in the past, my phone was really missing something or beginning to be troublesome such as crashing with some frequency, battery dying quickly or not connecting well. In other words, I reallywas ready for a new phone. While I love Nokia 1020’s camera and I love the Nokia Icon overall, I’m happy right where I am. The phone remains snappy, the battery is decent, the photos are great and it rarely has glitches. It just works and it’s fairly intuitive. Yes folks, a year and half in, I really still love my phone and the Windows Phone platform. Crazy, right?

Nokia Lumia 920 with Nokia-Monster Purity HD headphones

Before diving into my reflections, let me give you some context by describing my main uses of my phone and to do that I need to tell you what I do and what I love. I’m in IT for an insurance company, so I like to keep current and experiment a bit with new geek toys. I love books, including audio books (I constantly use the Audible app). I love music (even when I’m reading books); I have fairly eclectic tastes (eveything from The Tallis Scholars and Anne Akiko Meyers on the classical side to OneRepublic, Civil Wars and Ed Sheeran the pop/folk side to a little M83 and Daft Punk and everything in between. So a subscription service is really great to explore and Xbox Music and, more recently, Beats Music are great. (Neither Pandora or Spotify serve well for someone who, like me and unlike most of the planet, is album oriented such as myself). I am a somewhat casual photographer; a bit more than point and shoot but not a lot of manual settings. I play games but like to do that more on a larger platform (e.g., a tablet like the Microsoft Surface – go Halo Spartan.) Oh, and I talk and text as well :)

Nokia Lumia 920

What’s been the surprisingly great stuff?

– The Ecosystem: While the media would suggest that I ought to be slitting my wrists over the dearth of apps, this platform actually works for me. All of the major apps I use, Audible, Facebook, Foursquare, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Netflix, Office, Kindle, YouVersion Bible, Pandora etc. are on the platform. This took a bit of time for some of them, but they’re all here. If you have some special needs or need 50 different choices of a Twitter client (I keep returning to the native Twitter client from Twitter), then you may need a larger ecosystem. Are there some apps I would love to see on Windows Phone 8 that aren’t there (talking to you Amazon Cloud Music client)? Sure. Nothing critical however.

– Wireless charging: it doesn’t seem like a big deal, but plopping this down my charger on the desk and picking it up without plugging and unplugging is hugely convenient.

– Nokia: Since they’ve had to push for market share (in the overall phone market, they own the Windows Phone market), they are constantly looking for cool new things. Nokia Camera, updates, City Lens, the various Here apps. Rock-a-lockin’ I like being with a company that’s hungry. Yeah competition. I hope and trust Microsoft will serve as good owners.

– Office: Looking at or editing documents or spreadsheets have been a nightmare on the phone in the past. On this phone, they read well. Formatting is preserved and re-sizing to read it is a breeze. Editing is still a bit of a challenge simply due to the form factor, but it’s eminently doable and not like gouging my eyes out. The phone is a great compliment to a mobile office.

Lumia 920: Just a flat out great phone. I’ve played with iPhones (4S & 5), Samsung S3’s & HTC’s One X with more than casualness. I love the 920. Other phones, for me, have worked fine. There are little touches with the Lumia 920 that just bring delight for me.

What don’t I love?

Whispersynch from Paperwhite to Audible Player (WP8) with Emma Newman’s marvelous Between Two Thorns.

– I have a love/hate relationship with Audible on Windows Phone 8. 90% of the time I love Audible on Windows Phone – it plays well with good bookmarking and uses Whispersync for Voice well. The hate part is it’s a bit resource intensive and switching between an incoming call (or an incoming text being read through my bluetooth headset -Jawbone Icon HD) can cause hiccups. At worst, I have to restart it, but I would like that to be smoother.

That’s pretty much the only major challenge. The normal phone stuff works well (calls, text, conference call, pairing to bluetooth etc). The apps behave. I think some of this points to a more mature market; phone capabilities are not changing as fast as they used to. Part of this is, I believe, the OS. Even when it first came out, the 920 didn’t have the fastest processors, biggest batteries etc. Yet it has never felt sluggish and, (some due to wireless charging), I rarely have to give thought to battery life. So being clever in build and design is as important as being brawny; this is an argument Apple been giving (and winning with) for years.

What did I think I would really miss but haven’t

– Replaceable battery: I had an external charger for my battery that didn’t requirement my phone to be plugged in. So I typically had one ready and one charging. As long as I had the batteries with me, I didn’t worry about running low. My phone used them up fairly quickly (4 – 6 hours depending on how new that battery was and what I was doing), but this was a workable solution. Due to wireless charging and Windows Phone’s relatively good power management, this hasn’t been an issue. I’m not sure I would risk this with Android (although it can be done – Motorola Maxx has great battery life)

– External memory slot: I didn’t have a ton of on-board memory (16 gb with 10 user-available) but had a 32gb card. Due to Lumia 920’s 32 GB on board memory and much more cloud storage and streaming, this has not been an issue. It’s also been nice not trying to manage where things live. Even though Android would support loading apps to the card, many apps would not support it. So storage got tight on my old phone even though I had plenty on my card. Photos and documents automatically upload to the cloud on OneDrive, I don’t store much music or video locally; I stream most of it.

– Swype: I really liked Swype. Due to a good predictive keyboard and more use of voice-to-text for things like texting, this has not been a big deal. Will I check out the swiping-style keyboard in 8.1? Sure.

So, we’ll see what’s on the horizon, but I don’t have a burning desire or need to upgrade with a bit less than half a year on my contract. Now that’s a nice place to be.

[UPDATED 6.21.14 WITH STEFAN RUDNICKI’S READING OF MAN OF DISTINCTION BY FREDRIC BROWN] [UPDATED TO INCLUDE AN INTERVIEW WITH GABRIELLE DE CUIR & STEFAN RUDNICKI WHO ARE NARRATING TWO SHORT STORIES FROM FREDRIC BROWN SHORT-STORY COLLECTION – HONEYMOON IN HELL] I

‘m excited to participate in Spoken Freely 2014 on yesterday and today; June is Audiobook Month. Here’s a fairly wide-ranging interview with Ms. de Cuir and Mr. Rudnicki covering many aspects of the process of creating an audio book:

Spoken Freely is:

The audiobook community is giving back! Spoken Freely, a group of more than 40 professional narrators, has teamed with Going Public and Tantor Media to celebrate June is Audiobook Month (JIAM) by offering Summer Shorts ’14, an audio collection of poetry, short stories and essays. All proceeds from sales of the collection will go to ProLiteracy, a national literacy outreach and advocacy organization.

The entire collection Summer Shorts ’14 is available at Tantor Media. Fredric Brown’s short story collection, Honeymoon in Hell, from which these two selections are taken is available at Audible, Blackstone and Barnes & Noble and other stores.

Stefan Rudniki’s reading of Man of Distinction by Fredric Brown:

Gabrielle de Cuir’s reading of Too Far by Fredric Brown:

I’m hosting narrators Gabrielle de Cuir and Stefan Rudnicki reading Fredric Brown’s Too Far and Man of Distinction. Ms. de Cuir and Mr. Rudnicki are the principals behind Skyboat Media. Among their many accomplishments they produced (and were cast in) my favorite audioplay ever, Ender’s Game Alive and Anne Hatheway’s narration of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Mr. Rudnicki recently won the Audie award for the Fantasy category narrating Wisp of a Thing by Alex Bledsoe. He also has this mighty praise from one of my teenage boys (having listened to Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game, Pathfinder, Ruins as well as other books: “Dad, THAT voice!” Indeed, since his last name is a bit challenging to remember and pronounce for my 3 boys, they’ll refer to him as “You know, the guy with that voice”

Gabrielle has narrated over one hundred titles specializing in fantasy, humor and titles requiring extensive foreign language and accent skills. Her “velvet touch” as an actor’s director has earned her a special place in the audiobook world as the foremost director for best-selling authors and celebrities. Short list of those directed: Wil Wheaton, Anne Hathaway, Carl Reiner, Deepak Chopra, Eric Idle, Nancy Cartwright, Ed Hermann and Joe Mantegna. Story Summary: Paranormal adventures in the Central Park Zoo. Copyright is held by SKYBOAT MEDIA, INC. Recorded with permission.

Stefan has produced, directed and/or executive produced over 3,000 audiobooks for Skyboat Media and major publishers including Audible, Inc., Blackstone Audio, MacMillan Audio, Random House Audio Publishing Group and Zondervan. He has narrated hundreds of audiobooks, including non-fiction titles Hubris, Revolutionary Summer and Deep Survival, and multiple fiction titles by Orson Scott Card, Charles McCarry, Alex Bledsoe, Ben Bova, Alan Dean Foster, David Webber/John Ringo and Louie L’Amour. He has been named a Golden Voice by AudioFile Magazine and has won multiple Audie Awards and two Grammys. Story Summary: This is the story of Al Hanley, a down and out drunk, who saved the human race from alien invasion. Copyright is held by SKYBOAT MEDIA, INC. Recorded with permission. Fredric Brown Fredric Brown is one of the grand old masters of science fiction short stories writing principally in the 40s and 50s. The two stories they’ll narrate are part of a collection Honeymoon in Hell which they produced in its entirety. ProLiteracy works to provide solutions to low literacy: “we believe that a safer, stronger, and more sustainable society starts with an educated adult population. For more than 50 years, we’ve been working with passionate people and organizations across the globe to build that society—and to create a world where every person can read and write” So stay tuned with more to come; check out the entire schedule of terrific reads. Acknowledgments Summer Shorts ’14 is made possible by the efforts of the Spoken Freely narrators and many others who donated their time and energy to bring it to fruition. Post-production, marketing support and publication provided by Tantor Media . Graphic design provided by f power design. Project coordination and executive production provided by Xe Sands. Nonprofit partnership coordination provided by Karen White.

Cage (Cruise) & Rita (Blunt) by everthetwelve capturing so well the tired commitment of the two

Edge of Tomorrow takes an intriguing premise and does a fabulous job of execution. Someone (and it’s really challenging to find the originator) dubbed this Starship Troopers meets Ground Hog day. It’s a fairly apt description as far as it goes. We’re sending in troops who are overwhelmed by aliens and yes the day repeats for the one person who really doesn’t want to be there but finally gets with the program and thinks about others and becomes the hero. The devil is in the details and the premise is in the execution. I thoroughly enjoyed Edge of Tomorrow. For me, I’m torn about seeing Summer action flicks on the big screen. On the one hand, you want the big screen for the visuals and sound but struggle with paying all of the money for a mediocre story. There is no such trade off here. It’s not the greatest story ever told but it’s a pretty cool narrative that fleshes out the premise to a good conclusion.

Here are some of the many reasons I enjoyed this film:

The repetition of the days could have been monotonous (indeed, some reviewers found it so); I believe they deftly provided a sense of the dealing with the initial shock, the challenge of repeating (monotony for the repeater) , the knowledge gained each round and the building relationship with Rita (the lovely Emily Blunt) without dragging anything out.

The humor wasn’t intrusive but brilliant. To the point above, I loved the “Maggot” BAM, “Maggot” BAM rinse & repeat cycle.

Speaking of relationships, Cage & Rita’s relationship was spot on; not ridiculously romantic in the midst of firefights and not instant but built over time.

We got to know J squad without overly dwelling on those who would become cannon (or, rather, Mimic) fodder.

The camera work and CGI for the battle scenes did a great job of providing you with a sense the chaotic nature and speed of the battle and those darn Mimics without crazy, jerky cameras. The CGI work seemed to meld in well and, overall, the scenes had an organic nature to them.

This is the first full-on action role for Emily Blunt (although her role in the wonderful Wild Target comes close). As with all of her work, she handled it beautifully. (When did Ms. Blunt get a tan?) She was believable as the Angel of Verdun even while it was clear she’s a thinking man’s warrior.

There are two related aspects of the film for which I didn’t care but they require spoilers to lay out. Suffice it to say, while I didn’t hate the ending, it could have been handled in a less prosaic way.

I think this was one of director Doug Liman’s better efforts, and I loved Bourne Identity, if for no other reason than pulling off such a complex film with some many pieces that could go wrong – CGI could have looked artificial, the repeating process could have been laborious, Cruise & Blunt might not have worked well together and most of all, the premise could have overwhelmed the story where we’re so caught up in the repeat cycle that we miss the narrative drive. Mr. Lyman overcame all of these obstacles to make a really good Summer flick a step above the common fare. I recommend Edge of Tomorrow to all who are looking for a step above the admittedly fun comic-book blockbuster.

Christophe Beck

I also thought Christophe Beck’s soundtrack to this was really effective. The main title’s (Angel of Verdun’s) throbbing base with a bit of a hint at the challenges to come in the slightly eerie melody grabbed me right away. He always added and enhanced what was on the screen without getting in the way, helping to drive the narrative. I also appreciated how he brought understated subtllety and driving percussion and bass just when needed. Really nice work.

As a side note, I’m interested enough in the premise that I’ll be reading the Japanese novella which inspired the movie, All You Need is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka about which none other than John Scalzi wrote: “Science fiction for the adrenaline junkie. Reads fast, kicks ass, and keeps on coming. Buckle up and enjoy.” — John Scalzi, author of Old Man’s War and Fuzzy Nation. UPDATE: I’ve read the book and the review is here.

Michael Underwood‘s Shield and Crocus is an alternate world urban fantasy which contain a whole cast of characters as villains, good guys, and semi-innocent bystanders. The geography of the city, Audec-Hal, is that of a humanoid giant god, the species are varied from the blue-skinned giant Freithin to the yellow-skinned Ikanollo where all of the men look alike and as do the women. The different races have various skills and, too top it all off, there are spark storms which alter the citizens for Audec-Hal to give them yet more individualistic funky powers. The heroes are the Shields and the villains are a cartel of criminals, with lots of in-fighting, who took over control of the city (and the City Mother) 50 years ago. Each run a district of the city. [Full disclosure: I received an advance review copy of the book for an honest review.] As the publisher blurb lays it out:

Now, with nothing left to lose, First Sentinel and the Shields are the only resistance against the city’s overlords as they strive to free themselves from the clutches of evil. The only thing they have going for them is that the crime lords are fighting each other as well—that is, until the tyrants agree to a summit that will permanently divide the city and cement their rule of Audec-Hal.

It’s one thing to take a stand against oppression, but with the odds stacked against the Shields, it’s another thing to actually triumph.

Michael R.Underwood

You may know Mr. Underwood from Ree Reyes novels, Geekomancy and Celebromancy an novella Attack the Geek. This book is in a very different vein, more an epic fantasy than a light geeky romp. While it takes place in a city and in a relatively short timespan, it is within a larger historical context and the city is a fairly large place whose denizens are varied. So the temporal and geographic scale come across as quite large. The quest to free the city is daunting and the villains would rival Batman’s.

So besides this astonishing world and epic structure, what sets Crocus and Shield apart? While not unique, it incorporates family, father to son, husband to wife and those interested in becoming one amongst the Shields and their supporters, the Shield-Bearers, more fully and explicitly than most. There is a clear sense of loyalty and sacrifice for each other. It is, in other words, an epic fantasy with heart and soul. Family. By contrast, the top bad guys are utterly self-focused, including to the level of no interest in family.

One of the aspects I really love about this story is that the heroes are not super-heroes. While they have some special skills, either based on their race, being spark-touched or their calling (Aegis), they are not invinsible. Shields have died before them defending the citizens of Audec-Hal and they may die as well. They certainly get hurt and take time to recover. I also hate this about the novel in the sense that I would love to see them magically kick butt. Alas, neither in this world or in Mr. Underwood’s, does it work that way. It makes for a better book and story, just a little tough to sit by and watch (read) what the Shield must endure.

Mr. Underwood does a nice job embedding background within narrative with a rare bout of reverting to flashbacks. His sense of action is keen and the sense of danger is pervasive. His pacing is good, although, for this somewhat dull reader, he packs a tremendous amount of information about the people and the world in his writing. So I’ve reached both the boon and bane of the novel. It is a rich world with complex relationships among people and races. It has a plethora of villains, each with different skillsets (whose lieutenants have their own skills). There is a reason the book contains a map, a glossary and a key to thread colors (this will make sense when you read the book). At least for me, it’s almost too much. I could easily see this novel broken up into a trilogy with some focus on an area and a group with each book. It’s enjoyable as it stands and you don’t need to be intimately aquainted with the Qava and their ability and need to perceive the world through others as they have no sense organs of their own. Fun to know, but if you simply remember their telekinetic power (and some have it stornger than others) then you can follow the book.

So I commend Shield and Crocus to you. While the list of dramatis personae is daunting and the world is complex, your efforts in following it all are well rewarded. Mr. Underwood never loses the drive of the story or the connections among the characters in this world.

So I’m looking forward with some pretty strong anticipation and, admittedly, trepidation on a novelization of a webshow of a classic novel. Seriously, it looks like fun and, I’m reminded by looking back to the webshow; let’s be open to something new.

Few in the cartooning world have ever spoken to him. Even fewer have ever met him.

In fact, legend has it that when Steven Spielberg called to see if he wanted to make a movie, Bill wouldn’t even take the call.

So it was with little hope of success that I set out to try and meet him last April.

I was traveling through Cleveland on a book tour, and I knew that he lived somewhere in the area. I also knew that he was working with Washington Post cartoonist Nick Galifianakis on a book about Cul de Sac cartoonist Richard Thompson’s art.

So I took a shot and wrote to Nick. And Nick in turn wrote to Watterson.

OK, I admit I’m a 54 year old guy and I was looking forward to seeing Maleficent. The trailers show Angela Jolie at her wicked best and it looked like more than the typical fairy story; the trailer with Lana Del Rey singing a haunting “Once Upon A Dream” suggests it’s not business as usual for Disney:

Indeed, this is a fresh take on the tale starting with the back story of the Maleficent. It is both darker and lighter than most movie fairy tales; it is darker in its look, in its pain and in its world view – there is no true love. It’s a bit like Wicked compared to the Wonderful Wizard of Oz except this isn’t a musical. Another comparison would be Oz the Great and Powerful (on which Director Robert Stromberg was Production Designer) to the same, but, I believe, with better acting, world building and story. I actually liked Oz the Great and Powerful; I love Maleficent.

But I digress. It is also a more lyrical, light world and narrative than most fairy tales. One of the amazing things about this world is that dark and light are both beautiful although they are not equally good.

This juxtaposition of light and dark is played throughout the film in place and time, people’s lives and choices made. It is not just good versus evil. It is the good in us warring with our evil nature. One tag line Disney is using with the film is “Visions are seldom all they seem.”

The cast is phenomenal. Angela Jolie is as great as you expect her to be. She loves the evil but is equally believable in the light. A special surprise is Sam Riley as Diaval, about which more later. The world is as stunning as Pandora in Avatar (Mr. Stromberg was also Production Designer on Avatar) and the narrative is amazing; in many ways, Linda Woolverton’s story is the star of this production. Maleficent fires almost perfectly on all fronts, I even liked the fairies (Imelda Staunton is always fabulous). I didn’t care for Sharlto Copley as Stefan – his voice was too high pitched in the beginning and he suffers from comparison amongst a stellar cast; he can do a great job playing a bad guy – see Elysium – but he just didn’t do so here.

Sam Riley as Diaval

Diaval, the raven/man, epitomizes the story. He is a somewhat smart-mouthed servant to Maleficent who comes to care for both her and Aurora. He is willing to do what is necessary, but doesn’t revel in evil. Diaval is her eyes and ears, perceptive both physically and mentally. If Elle Fanning is the heart of the movie, he is its soul. So, not only was it a nice surprise for the role to be interesting, it was equally surprising to find it so well played by Sam Riley.

Robert Stromberg makes his directorial debut in Maleficent; while Mr. Stromberg is no new comer to Hollywood (his visual effects work is stunning on some the best visual films of Hollywood as well as production designer on three visual feasts (add Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland to the aforementioned), I applaud Disney’s willingness to risk such a large production to him. Their risk was rewarded. He has a deft sense of timing, flow and beauty. Coupling that with a great story results in one of my favorite Disney films.

Robert Stromberg; – Photo by Eric Charbonneau

Linda Woolverton is a veteran screenwriter including the screenplays for Alice in Wonderland and The Lion King. This reboot of Charles Perrault’sLa Belle au Bois Dormant, or The Sleeping Beauty of the Wood is perfect fodder for her wit and terrific sense of balance between characters, relationships and narrative. Her revision is fresh, makes sense and honors the source material whilst driving the narrative of the movie in a new way. The dialog is clear and crisp and the story is great; alas I can’t say more without revealing too much.

Linda Woolverton, Screenwriter

Ms. Woolverton has a bit more to say:

The soundtrack is spot on; James Newton Howard continues his excellent work (the man has his own studio, since 1997! Who knew?). Of course, Lana Del Rey’s version of Once Upon a Dream is gorgeous and a bit chilling. Overall, the score provides the perfect backdrop of the movie; it soars when Maleficent flies above the Moors. It brings the drama when Maleficent enters the hall on the day of Aurora is christened. It comically flits when the fairies become “Peasant women”. It fits. Plus Lana Del Rey. Just sayin’.

I highly recommend the film to all old enough to handle the dark elements. It is a delight.

****************SPOILERS**************************

OK, some things better left unsaid for those who haven’t seen it. Things I love about Malevicent:

– The protagonist becomes the villain and reawakens to her true self and is the protagonist once again. Execution is everything. This was done is a sympathetic way where no one is a mere victim.

– Sam Riley makes a great smartass; I love the way the film moves him to wolf and dragon. Nice touch

– I love the beauty of this world, especially the Moors. I believe it was particularly clever to have the dark version of the Moors be beautiful. Even the human castle can be beautiful and dark. It was a great touch for the iron barricade in the castle to match the thorn wall of the Moors.

– Maleficent truly repents her evil spell. She not only has true sorrow but she takes action to undo her evil; she (seemingly) fails but makes the attempt with all that is in her.

– It is a complex tale with complex people. No one, not even Stephan is as evil as he might be whilst none, other than Aurora and Prince are, without fail, good.

– Their attention to detail. From the “boney” structure of Diaval in man form to the extenuated features of Maleficent.